De Blasio, the Democratic mayoral nominee, came out of the primary with a 41-point lead over his Republican opponent, Joe Lhota, and it's now swelled to a 50-point advantage, according to a poll of likely voters released by Quinnipiac University today. The Independence Party nominee, Adolfo Carrion, is at two percent, unchanged from Quinnipiac's earlier poll on September 19.

De Blasio leads Lhota across every cross-section of voters in this morning's poll, including those making more than $100,000 annually, (65 to 31 percent), and those who say the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policies are "acceptable" (52 to 41 percent).

About a third of voters say they have an unfavorable view of Lhota, roughly the same number who say they don't know enough about him to form an opinion. De Blasio is known by more people, and liked by more of them too.

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Carrion, the former Bronx borough president, is struggling for recognition: 73 percent said they don't know enough about him to form an opinion.

De Blasio's big lead may explain why Lhota's first television ad of the general election mentions de Blasio several times, and stresses the two candidates aren't that different on some social issues. It may also explain why de Blasio's first TV ad of the general election ignores Lhota all together.

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"Andrew Cuomo needs to get reelected and Bill de Blasio needs a tax increase in an election year." — Hank Sheinkopf

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11 a.m. State officials will attend the annual MWBE symposium at the Empire State Plaza.

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Mayor Michael Bloomberg is hoping City Comptroller John Liu signs off on a three and a half year contract with Verizon, even though he's rejected two similar ones, saying the company needs to pay for botched work on the city's emergency call system. [Ginger Adam Otis and Erin Durkin]

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